CloudyCoastPhotography

Okay so behind the camera I'm improving nicely and understand "how" cameras work, "how" to manipulate light with aperture, shutter speed, ISO and external lighting etc. no problem. I am also improving my skills with Lightroom, PS, Photomatix, Portrait Pro, etc etc. I use ProDPI to print, all good. Here is my question: WITHOUT getting into spending a ton of money on a new monitor, and WITHOUT buying some gadget to calibrate my monitor Spyder, etc, is there a way to calibrate/change the settings on a Mac monitor to best color match my photo editing to what will come out of the printer? "General settings" or some such? Again, I'm really not interested in buying pricey gadgets for calibrating or spending a ton on a new monitor. Thanks in advance to all the HELPFUL responses.

ggttc Loc: TN

Take a look here:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor/

williejoha

Without this so called gadget like spider etc, good luck. Remember, no effort, no gain. There is no free lunch.
WJH

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I see this all the time. The flip answer is no, buy a damned calibrator. It will save you hours of time and hundreds of bucks' worth of ink and paper or lab fees, if you use it correctly.

I ran all the digital departments of a major pro portrait photo lab during the transition from film capture and optical film printing to digital capture and digital printing. The #1 challenge we had was getting all nine of our color correction department monitors to match the output from all 15 of our Noritsu mini-labs. We were "sort of" able to get close without a calibrator. But buying that Spyder and calibrating and profiling all the monitors to the same standard was the ticket. Our paper waste, chemistry and water waste, and associated wasted labor were cut in half. We saved over $176,000 in the year after establishing a fully color-managed workflow. It cost us about $250 for the cal kit back then.

That was for silver halide printing. In our large format print area, we used several 44" Epsons to make canvas portraits, deluxe fraternity, senior class, and band composites, and large custom prints. The output was costing us roughly $1.17 per square foot, plus operator labor of $15/hr. Our volume was low, but the amount of time spent in remakes, and the expense involved, made the cost of our large format output nearly equal to what we could charge for it. Again, we cut our waste — over 65%.

At home, now, for personal and project work, I use an iMac. I keep it calibrated and profiled with a Spyder5Pro. I rarely have to reprint anything because of a color match problem. And I know that my JPEGs are neutral, and will look good on anyone else's screen if it's calibrated and profiled.

Calibration only linearizes a device. Profiling tells the rest of your system what a specific device can really do, and tailors the input to it just for that capability.

williejoha

Well said.
WJH

Jim Bob

If your system is blu ray capable you can purchase blu rays that help you calibrate the display for a lot less than those dedicated programs.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

No, like burkphoto said, software calibration is not going to give you the results you need for accurate prints.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Software calibration is only going to tell you that you need to calibrate. It won't actually do it. It's a placebo.

There is no substitute for a proper calibration - and it will save you a fortune on printer paper and ink. You do NOT want to match the print to the display or vice versa. You want to profile (calibrate) your display to a standard. If you use the printer manufacturer's paper and ink, and the recommended printer settings for the paper, you will get very close results. You could profile the printer as well and get a little bit closer.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Gene, I am glad I read your post as I would have done exactly what you say not to do - that is, match the print to the computer screen or vice versa. Thanks for this valuable tip. ~FiddleMaker

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Yes. if you match the print to the screen, it may work for that "closed loop" but you're not likely to get a lab-produced print to come even close. Color management standards exist for a reason.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Gene, I have never calibrated my 5-year old Dell monitor. I guess Step #1 is for my to acquire a ColorMunki or Spyda5 monitor and calibrate this monitor. Also Joe Brady recommends using a Color Checker card to calibrate the cameras. I have not done that either. ~FiddleMaker

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Wait for a sale or around holiday time to get a calibrator. How much did you spend on camera,computer etc . Don't be penny wise and pound foliage.

ATCurry

Look into borrowing a calibrator. Maybe you can rent one. Although it is recommended that you recalibrate every month or so, the change made during the initial calibration is usually pretty noticeable, while the subsequent changes are fairly small. I use a laptop screen and an external monitor as a dual monitor setup, and having them nearly identical has been great for my work flow.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you have a JPEG workflow, yes, the original ColorChecker Chart is quite useful in helping determine which Picture Style and sub-style offsets work best.

With a raw workflow, if you want precise color, use the ColorChecker Passport and Lightroom together.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

I process only raw (NEF) in Lr 5.7. I really need to upgrade to Lr CC and get me a ColorChecker Passport as recommended by Joe Brady.